An order of Roman Catholic nuns near Columbia in Pennsylvania has vowed to continue its protest against the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline, a $3 billion, 187-mile project to carry fracked natural gas from wells in the Marcellus Shale formation of Pennsylvania to markets along the East Coast. Pipeline Technology Journal reported earlier about the nuns here.

The Atlantic Sunrise is part of Williams" Transco transportation and distribution pipeline network

The nuns are arguing that the Atlantic Sunrise violates their religious freedom and they will get another day at a federal appeals courts in Philadelphia to make their case.

Specifically their attorneys will argue that forcibly building the pipeline through their property was a violation of the nuns' deeply held religious beliefs, namely, that the pipeline would harm the earth and contribute to climate change, as well as the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

A federal court judge in Pennsylvania has ordered a pause in the pipeline's construction until further study can be done.